Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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1871. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when a review of the Decision Support Service is scheduled to take place to ensure it is fit for purpose and serving the needs of service users and practitioners; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44616/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for their question regarding a review of the Decision Support Service (DSS). Ensuring that the needs of both service users and practitioners is met is a priority for my Department.

The DSS is responsible for operating many of the provisions of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 as amended, including, inter alia, establishing a register of decision support arrangements, promoting public awareness, confidence and providing information and guidance about the Act, establishing panels of special visitors, general visitors and decision-making representatives and reviewing complaints in regard to the performance of decision-making representatives, co-decision makers and designated healthcare representatives.

Due to their central role in the operation of the 2015 Act, the legislation provides for the Mental Health Commission to submit to me a report on the effectiveness of the Director of the DSS, on the adequacy of the functions assigned under the Act to the Director, and to include any such recommendations that the Mental Health Commission considers would improve these aspects of the legislation.

I can confirm that this report has been completed by the Mental Health Commission and has been submitted to my Department. It is currently being considered and will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas in due course.

The recommendations set out in the report will work to inform a review of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 as provided for within the legislation, and to which we have further committed in the Programme for Government, with the ultimate aim of ensuring that those with diminished decision-making capacity are enabled to retain as much autonomy as is possible over the decisions that affect them.